How to Communicate Bad News to Your Customers
Talking to customers is a great experience, as long as you don’t have to give them the bad news. There’s nothing more stressful than letting a customer know that an unfortunate situation happened, and it affects them. Communicating negative things gives every support agent the shivers! Let’s review the very sensitive topic of delivering bad news to customers so that you can be more confident.
9 min read
I don’t need to tell you how important customers are for you. Their satisfaction is key to moving forward and growing your business, but life is full of surprises. Things get broken, services don’t always go as expected, deliveries get delayed, orders arrive incomplete, and front-line employees who have direct contact with customers can have a tough day and clearly show it.
Put theory into practice in difficult situations. Use soft communication skills, and try to turn an upset customer into a happy one. Learn how to deal with angry customers and how to cool down emotions to fix the customer relationship.
Situations that evoke negative emotions in a customer
The situations that serve as a source of the “bad news” differ depending on variables associated with your business. The industry you operate in, your target audience, whether you provide a product or a service, and whether it’s a B2B or B2C market are just a few of those variables.
In this part, Anastasia from NetHunt CRM will touch upon a few situations that can evoke negative emotions in customers, offering tips on how to communicate through them favorably.
First, find out which customer situations can be difficult. Based on my experience, I created a short, non-exhaustive list of situations that can make customers unhappy:
- A price increase for products or services
- Missed deadlines for product or service delivery
- Product downtime, when customers are unable to use it
- Refusal for future support of certain product features
- Software bugs
- Exceeding the project budget
- Refusal to scope out feature requests
- Event cancellations
- And tons of more specific issues related to your brand or industry
Even companies with the best products and services have occasional run-ins with angry and disappointed customers. Now, let’s learn how to tell bad news to customers in a diplomatic and polite manner to successfully close the customer case.
How to give the bad news to a customer
It would be naive to assume you can run a business without coming up against a problem that impacts a customer’s perception. This isn’t a sprint. It’s a cross-country marathon with hurdles. Tool up and arm yourselves with a plan that already accounts for the odd bit of bad news. There’s no situation bad enough that the correct communication can’t solve.
Be proactive
Once you identify a downside to your product, like a bug that can influence a customer’s productivity, be open and message customers.
As a Head of Customer Success at NetHunt CRM, I want to emphasize that giving customers bad news should not be a complete surprise. Some of our mistakes or incidents can negatively influence their business. As soon as I understand that there’s a risk to any situation, I communicate early and warn customers about the possible consequences.
Be clear with bad news
Some companies tend to try and soften bad news and save face by withholding all the details. When delivering bad news, don’t be vague and don’t hide any facts. Describe the issue in detail so there’s no room left for questions or guesswork. At the end of your conversation, describe the measures you’ve taken for the same situation not to happen in the future. Customers are bound to be willing to work further with you in the future if you tell them the truth rather than sugarcoating the problem.
Provide a solution
Provide an action plan for how and when you’re going to solve an issue. If there’s an opportunity to provide a workaround, mention it. If it’s an account-specific problem, offer a call to the customer. Learning about the problem over the phone, rather than via email, adds personality and credibility. This helps customers understand they’re valued and not left to their own fate.
Think of additional answers
It’s more than likely customers will ask you different questions about the issue. Your job here is to provide answers as soon as possible, helping customers understand that you’re in control. To this end, put yourself in your customer’s shoes as you craft your news message. Ask yourself the questions they could have. Do your research and prepare answers to those questions.
Take responsibility
Never blame the customer. This doesn’t mean to simply submit yourself, but rather to admit that there’s a problem and outline a way out of it. To the same end, don’t blame your partners, suppliers, or developers. Customers need to see a brand that’s responsible for its own outcomes.
Follow up on the progress
It’d be wrong to have an initial conversation and fall silent afterward. Write a follow-up email a day or two later, stating the progress you’ve made with the problem. Send the date when you think you’re going to solve the issue. If you don’t know the exact date you’ll deliver the fix, at least state the date of the next update you’ll send to the customers.
Similarly, ask how the customers are dealing with an issue and whether you can help them somehow. Make them feel like your top priority.
Negative and positive phrases in customer communication
No matter how angry customers are, how offensive they sound, or how terribly they describe your company, the situation, or you, don’t lose focus. You have to be stoic, friendly, and aimed at solving the problem rather than argumentative.
Creating exceptional experiences through customer communication is something more and more companies strive for. It’s not always easy. Sometimes a difficult situation forces us to deliver bad news. However, it only takes a few well-chosen words to show the customer that they’re always our top priority and that we care about their happiness at all times.
A four-step action plan to communicating tough news to your customers
So, how would you handle an angry customer or deliver bad news to them? Your success in such situations lies in the way you communicate. If done effectively, you’ll win back your customers’ trust and loyalty. Here’s a four-step action plan:
1. Address the issue at hand directly and personally
Create a clear and concise message that directly explains the issue at hand, and be sure to add a personal touch. By personalizing the message, customers know they’re valued and that your business has the best intention of resolving the issue.
2. Offer a solution or promise
In addressing the issue, offer a solution or promise to do better in the future. For example, if you’ve canceled a customer’s order, consider offering a special discount code to try another product in the future.
3. Ask for feedback
Let your customers know that you’re listening and willing to take actionable steps to improve their experience. Engaging in dialogue will help you learn more about moving forward.
4. Take action to follow-up
Personally follow-up with your customers to hold your team accountable and ensure your customers’ satisfaction.
Summary
- When giving the bad news, be proactive, clear, provide the solution, think bigger, take responsibility, and follow up on the progress.
- Identify the words that make a customer happy. Create a list of negative and positive phrases in your customer communications and share it with your customer service agents, so you all use the exact wording and avoid language traps.
- Find the best answers you’ve used in the past when dealing with an angry customer and turn that part of your conversations into canned responses.